Am I correct in remembering that the Mets refused to deal Milledge for Barry Zito down the stretch run in 2006? If so, why now did they now only trade him for... Ryan Church and Brian Schneider? Church at 29 is slipping into that career-backup phase, and Schneider's defense must be pretty good, because his bat ain't keeping him in the league (he does take a mean walk, though). Could such a deal have, oh, helped them overcome the eventual world series winning Cardinals in Game 7 of the NLCS? Or maybe his value is really just that low right now.

Jan Levine rant in 3... 2... 1...

Comments....

Maybe Milledge won't pan out and live to his hype, but this looks like one of the worst deals in recent memory. And the fact that Bowden pulled off (rather than vice versa) makes it even more amazing.Posted by schoenke at 11/30/2007 3:03:00 PM

What do you mean? He also pulled off Kearns & Lopez for Gary Majewski and Bill Bray.Posted by bscwik at 12/1/2007 10:20:00 AM

Lopsided as the deal is, I can't help but see it as almost lose-lose. The last thing the Nats need is yet another Bowden Special toolsy outfielder. Unless he flips, say, Wily Mo for some pitching, the Nationals are still going nowhere even if Milledge pans out.Posted by ESiegrist at 12/1/2007 11:38:00 AM

Ryan Church hit .272 with 15 homers and 70 RBI overall.Against the Mets, he hit .317 with four homers and 12 RBI.Against all others, he hit .268 with 11 HR and 58 RBI.

Brian Schneider hit .235 with six homers & 54 RBI total. Against the Mets, he hit .289 with no homers and 8 RBI.Against all others, he hit .210 with six homers and 46 RBI.

Can it be that simple? It's only natural for teams to value what they see first hand, but is that too big of a factor?

I'm not sure, but I think it's a little bit interesting. Posted by jtopper at 12/1/2007 3:21:00 PM

Bret,Thanks for the lead-in. Milledge's value had reportedly dropped as all the teams Minaya said he called for pitching indicated little interest in him and said that dealing him would not prevent the Mets from acquiring a pitcher. Of corurse, there is no wasy to confirm this and it may be pure spin for dealing Milledge, but there is no question his value had dropped.

The bigger question is why did it drop? Did the Mets rush him? Was he not given a true chance to succeed, especially after showing more maturity and better plate discipline during most of the year? Was his getting tossed out of a few games down the stretch when the Mets completed their collapse the final straw? All these questions, which have no clear-cut answer, play a part in his being dealt.

In terms of Schneider and Church. Topper, I hope you are wrong in your estimation that their numbers against New York played a major role in their acquistion, because if so, that's a major faux pas. An overriding concern is where is the team heading and is Minaya the one to get them there. I like Church, always have, and he may prove better than Milledge for the next few years but will he require a right-handed hitting platoon given his lefty-righty splits and this trade really can't be evaluated for a few years until Milledge is in his prime. My bigger concern is that Minaya will start dumping prospects like he did in Montreal when he knew he was a lame duck which may now be the case as the Mets have denied his request for an extension for beyond when his contract expires in 2009.

Schneider is a solid handler of pitchers and a decent acquisition but one that might have been unnecessary if the Mets - specifically Minaya - had protected Jesus Flores on the 40-man roster instead of Steve Schmoll and Victor Zambrano and lost him to Washington. If the combination of Schneider and Church better than Milledge but how bad is your farm system when there is no one else you could deal to get them? Minaya's window of opprtunity is running out and if he continues to make bad trades like he did before last year - see Heath Bell, Brian Bannister and Matt Lindstrom - he may be on his way out before Willie Randolph is.Posted by airjan23 at 12/3/2007 9:17:00 AM

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